Bosch cylinder vacuum cleaner won't reel in power cable

[Kostas Kavoussanakis]

My (2? 3 yo?) Bosch cylinder vacuum cleaner won't reel in its power cable. The idea is that you pull gradually to get the cable out; when you stop pulling, it locks there. If you yank the cable, it reels it in.

The first symptom was that it would keep trying to reel the cable in all the time; you just couldn't stop it. 2 weeks later, it stopped reeling it in at the end of the cable travel.

Any ideas what the problem is and if it's simple enough to fix? I don't do soldering. :-) I am OK with simple electrical jobs.

Thanks,

Kostas

p.s.: Very annoyed with the v.cleaner. German-made Bosch; what is the world coming to? p.p.s: Very annoyed with myself. Where did I put the receipt?

[Bob Minchin]

The spring may have broken or if there is still some rewind effort but not enough, the mechanism could just need a clean and lubrication. You should not need to solder anything. Generally speaking Bosch are good at supplying every single part for their products. I think they are based in Uxbridge.

Bob

[Kostas Kavoussanakis]

Thanks, I dropped them a line. It appears that there is a substitute part for the cable reel (probably different part to the one fitted in mine). This comes with the cable itself, so some tinkering will be required; hopefully it will be a plug.

Kostas

[John]

Sometimes plastic parts can get sticky due to dirt getting in and this creates friction. If this was the case then spray furniture polish - like Mr Sheen can keep plastic assemblies working well.

Of course it could be a spring or something else - but as it gradually got worse I would suspect it has got a bit gritty and is sticking.

[Kostas Kavoussanakis]

Thanks, I will have a look.

Kostas